An Audience Study on Indonesian Idol Talent Show
ADLN - PERPUSTAKAAN UNIVERSITAS AIRLANGGA 1
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background of the Study
Indonesian people like to watch television. In 2012, television is the
most favorite media in Indonesia, with the viewer reached 94% of Indonesian
citizen according to Nielsen Television Audience Measurement (Aria). Some
watch TV serials, some watch news program, some watch reality shows, and
so on. People watch television to relax, get entertained and search for
information. When people turn their television on, there are plenty of
programs to watch and they choose their favorite one or the programs that
they need to watch. Still from Nielsen Television Measurement, in 2012 the
two most watched television programs in Indonesia are TV serial and talent
show (Ibid). If we look at the history, talent show program is considered as
new kind of popular television program in Indonesia. The first talent shows
broadcasted in Indonesian television are Popstars and Audisi Pelawak TPI
(API) in 2003, long latest than TV serials which first emerged in 1980s.
As the new kind of television program in Indonesia, talent shows
have significant developments in terms of viewers. It can be seen in the
emergence of Akademi Fantasi Indosiar (AFI) in the late 2003 which was
successful in gaining much attention from the viewers. People who first only
had TV serials as entertainment were then given a new option: talent show.
SKRIPSI AN AUDIENCE STUDY ON ... NADIA SEASSI ROESDIONO ADLN - PERPUSTAKAAN UNIVERSITAS AIRLANGGA 2
The impact was outstanding, and the condition is more or less still the same
until today. Some popular talent shows in Indonesia are AFI, KDI (Kontes
Dangdut Indonesia), Indonesia’s Got Talent, IMB (Indonesia Mencari Bakat),
X Factor Indonesia, The Master, Master Chef Indonesia, and Indonesian Idol
which are broadcasted by leading television channels in Indonesia. Those
programs are initiated to seek for best skills of Indonesian people, such as
singing, dancing, cooking, magic show, and other special skills.
However, most of the talent shows we have in Indonesia are singing
competition, either for pop singer or dangdut singer. It is because singing
competition has been a phenomenon in Indonesia with its atmosphere of
competition, audition, skill showing, the music show, the euphoria and also
the drama. Looking at the output, Indonesian Idol has produced most of those
successful singers and some of them even work in other field in TV
entertainment. They are, for example, Gisel and Winda who played in FTVs,
sinetron and comedy sites. This information shows that Indonesian Idol has
given important contribution to Indonesian entertainment industry.
Indonesian Idol is a singing competition broadcasted by RCTI which
is a franchise or an adaptation of Pop Idol created by Simon Fuller and
produced by Fremantle Media. Pop Idol is a solo pop singer quest in the
United Kingdom airing from 2001 to 2003. That program is the prospective
form of Idol franchise whose format has been bought by television producers
in many countries including United States, Canada, India, Malaysia, and
Indonesia. The format has been widely known due to its success in the global
SKRIPSI AN AUDIENCE STUDY ON ... NADIA SEASSI ROESDIONO ADLN - PERPUSTAKAAN UNIVERSITAS AIRLANGGA 3
trade. In Indonesia, the show is held every week, usually on Fridays or
Saturdays, with the elimination of one contestant in every show. Since its first
season in 2004, Indonesian Idol singing competition has been successful in
gaining most people’s attention. This singing competition has finished eight
seasons in ten years (2004 2014), therefore considered the best achievement
in television industry in terms of productivity, compared to the other talent
shows like AFI which has only completed six seasons within the same range
of time. More than any other singing competition in Indonesia, Indonesian
Idol itself has been a phenomenon in each season. The popularity is high and
people always wait for the next show every week. The topic of Indonesian
Idol and its contestants often reaches Trending Topic in Twitter while the
program is airing in television.
1.1.1. The Trend of Talent Show in Indonesia
The popularity of Indonesian Idol gives fundamental contribution to
the phenomenon of talent shows in Indonesian television. After Indonesian
Idol there were plenty of other talent shows emerging in various television
channels such as Indonesia Mencari Bakat (all talents competition), Kontes
Dangdut TPI (dangdut competition), MasterChef Indonesia (cooking
competition), The Master (magic show competition), and several other
singing competitions such as The Voice, Mama Mia, and X Factor Indonesia.
The number and the variation are many, and it is still counting. Even now,
there are new singing competitions airing in television named Rising Star
Indonesia, Indonesian Idol Junior and some other talent shows. This condition
SKRIPSI AN AUDIENCE STUDY ON ... NADIA SEASSI ROESDIONO ADLN - PERPUSTAKAAN UNIVERSITAS AIRLANGGA 4
indicates that the phenomenon of talent shows in Indonesian television is still
happening and will continue to happen in the future.
Indonesian Idol’s ten years of existence in Indonesian television has
certainly left certain image to the audience. Even though it is unlikely to be
another season in the future, this program must have been in people’s mind
and every individual must have their own views of this program. It can be
positive, negative, or anything people can say about the program. Research on
audience is important because it allows us to learn the use of media for
society, to know the impact and influences of media, and also to identify what
people like and do not like from media (Stokes 130–131). Another reason of
doing audience research comes from the popularity of Indonesian Idol and the
impressions it made to the audience. Indonesian Idol has been nominated five
times in Panasonic Gobel Awards and won the three of them in 2005, 2006,
and 2013 (Panasonic Gobel Indonesia). Penelope Coutas in her article also
points out that Indonesian Idol has its key attraction to the audiences because
it is categorized as a reality show—when the audience are presented the real
‘journey’ of ordinary people into a celebrity, so that the relationship between
audience and program become closer and more intimate (qtd. in Heryanto
111).
Audience’s views and opinions about the phenomenon of talent
show, especially Indonesian Idol is needed in order to see this phenomenon
from the point of view that has not been given as much attention as the other
point of view such as the text’s point of view. Through their opinions we can
SKRIPSI AN AUDIENCE STUDY ON ... NADIA SEASSI ROESDIONO ADLN - PERPUSTAKAAN UNIVERSITAS AIRLANGGA 5
see the other side of this phenomenon than what we usually see in the text
itself, namely in the television only. People’s responses toward the
phenomenon, especially of Indonesian Idol, do not always the same as we see
it in television that certainly only shows the positive responses from people to
elevate their rating. If we only see it from television, we will only have one
point of view, but if we look through the audience’s experiences we will have
more various views since every individual has their own opinions and
experiences. Through the various points of view we can see this phenomenon
in a more comprehensive way. That is the grand purpose of this paper and
that is why the writer chooses Indonesian Idol to reach the goal.
Therefore, the researcher here intends to examine how people
respond to Indonesian Idol talent show on television. This study concerns on
how people see Indonesian Idol talent show as a popular television program
in Indonesia, how they like or dislike or both and why. Their opinions are
analyzed and the result could be useful to give some references and
suggestion of how people see the phenomenon of talent show in Indonesian
television. It is assumed that most of the audiences give negative response to
Indonesian Idol because of the heavy commercialization embedded in the
program. It shows that audiences in Indonesia are ‘passive audience’ while
media owners and producers are ones taking control of them in the culture
industry that operates in Indonesian television.
SKRIPSI AN AUDIENCE STUDY ON ... NADIA SEASSI ROESDIONO ADLN - PERPUSTAKAAN UNIVERSITAS AIRLANGGA 6
1.2. Problem Statements
• How do Indonesian audiences respond to Indonesian Idol talent show?
• What are the meanings of such responses?
1.3. Objectives of the Study
• The purpose of this study is to learn how audiences respond to
Indonesian Idol talent show on television. The writer then wants to
identify how people see the phenomenon of talent show in Indonesian
television.
• The responses are then analyzed to find the meaning in order to see
the phenomenon of singing competition in Indonesia from the
audience point of view.
1.4. Significance of the Study
Indonesian Idol is a form of reality show. In this program, audiences
are offered more than just a performance. According to Penelope Coutas,
reality show offers the audience to ‘see for themselves’ (qtd. in Heryanto
111), meaning that the viewers are able to witness the ‘journey’ to become a
star or an idol through the audition, the quarantine and the background stories
of the contestants. This study will try to learn audience’s attitude toward this
new things being offered to them on television. Their attitude will reveal the
impact of the phenomenon of talent show to Indonesian society, whether it is
bad or good or anything.
SKRIPSI AN AUDIENCE STUDY ON ... NADIA SEASSI ROESDIONO ADLN - PERPUSTAKAAN UNIVERSITAS AIRLANGGA 7
People’s opinion on the talent show phenomenon is also potential to
be an assessment to Indonesian television industry concerning the programs
they present to the audience, whether they really meet Indonesian people’s
need or not. Many scholars have also proven that watching television
contributes to the mindset building of children and teenagers. Indonesian
people are mostly easily influenced by television content and therefore it is
important to make sure that television presents only useful programs to
watch. It is expected that this audience study would contribute to the
development of the quality of Indonesian television content.
1.5. Scope and Limitation
This study puts its concern on how audiences make meaning and
give their attitude to Indonesian Idol talent show on television. Indonesian
Idol here refers to the whole seasons of Indonesian Idol (eight seasons). The
target audience in this study is limited to audiences in Surabaya, especially
Universitas Airlangga’s students and their parents.
1.6. Organization of the Study
This study begins with Introduction in the first chapter which provides
the overview of this study. In chapter two, review of previous studies related
to the topic of the study is delivered in details. Chapter three covers the
method used in this study, including the technique of data collection and
technique of data analysis with the steps elaborated. The findings of this study
and also the analysis are presented in chapter four. The closing chapter, the
SKRIPSI AN AUDIENCE STUDY ON ... NADIA SEASSI ROESDIONO ADLN - PERPUSTAKAAN UNIVERSITAS AIRLANGGA 8
fifth, provides summary of the study followed with the conclusions and
recommendation.
1.7. Definition of Key Terms
Audience study : a research in which the audience—a group of individuals
who are directly connected with the media they view (qtd.
in Livingstone 6)—become the subject of the study.
Audience here is positioned as the primary source of the
study.
Culture industry : a condition where mass media become seriously
distracted by the culture that is being reduced into a form
of industrial products (qtd. in Gauntlett 23).
Indonesian Idol : a singing competition broadcasted by RCTI which is an
adaptation of Pop Idol created by Simon Fuller and
produced by Fremantle Media.
Symptomatic reading: an approach that seeks to unwrap the wrapped things in
a text. It believes that a text can give information about
under what situation it was written, and also under what
situation it was read by the readers (Althusser 13).
SKRIPSI AN AUDIENCE STUDY ON ... NADIA SEASSI ROESDIONO